Amlak boosts profit growth outlook

Islamic mortgage firm Amlak Finance on Sunday lifted profit forecasts for the year to at least 80 per cent growth as lower interest rates boosted its mortgage business and widened spreads.

Amlak Chairman Nasser Al-Shaikh had told Reuters in February that profit at the Dubai-based lender would grow by at least 70 per cent.

"We will easily surpass that," he said in an interview on Sunday, putting a floor of at least 80 per cent growth. He was speaking to Reuters ahead of a World Economic Forum conference.

He said the spread between its lending and borrowing rate had widened to between 2.5 and 3 percentage points compared with 1 percentage point nine months ago.

Last month, Amlak posted its second-biggest quarterly profit ever as income rose more than five-fold driven by mortgage sales and property investments. Net income rose to Dh126 million ($34.31 million) compared with Dh23.8 million in the year-earlier period.

Profit at Amlak, the UAE's first mortgage company, more than doubled last year to Dh301 million, helped by the sale of investments in listed companies, the firm had previously said.

Amlak shares closed up 0.21 per cent on Sunday on a negative day for the Dubai benchmark index. The stock is up 20 per cent this year, outperforming the broader index which is up 7.7 per cent on the year.